At just 13 years old, Brianna Cameron entered The Voice Season 30 as the youngest contestant in the competition — and now the New Jersey singer is revealing what working with Kelly Clarkson is actually like away from the Blind Audition stage.
Brianna immediately became one of the memorable young singers of the season after performing Ike and Tina Turner’s “River Deep – Mountain High” during the premiere.
Kelly Clarkson turned first, with new coach Riley Green following later in the performance, giving Brianna a two-chair turn.
The coaches were even more stunned when Brianna revealed that she was only 13.
Despite her age, Brianna already had significant stage experience. She previously played young Tina Turner on the national tour of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical and had also appeared on Queen Latifah’s CBS series The Equalizer.
Riley fought hard to convince Brianna to join him and even brought out his dog Carl as part of his pitch.
But Brianna ultimately decided that Kelly was the coach she wanted guiding her through the competition.
Now that she has actually spent time working with the Grammy-winning singer, Brianna says the personality viewers see from Kelly on television isn’t an act.
“She’s such a down-to-earth person,” Brianna said while discussing her experience on Team Kelly.
That wasn’t the only thing that surprised the young singer.
Brianna said Kelly’s mentorship has already taught her lessons that extend beyond simply singing bigger or hitting difficult notes.
One of those lessons is humility.
“Being on her team, I’ve learned to be humble,” Brianna explained.
Kelly has also been helping her understand something especially important for a singer with such a powerful voice: knowing when not to use everything at once.
Brianna said she has been learning how to “pick the right moments” during a song and how important choosing the correct song can be for showing an artist at their best.
For a 13-year-old performer already capable of delivering the kind of vocals that convinced two superstar coaches to turn around, that kind of restraint could become particularly valuable as the competition gets tougher.
Brianna repeatedly described Kelly as extremely knowledgeable and said she was grateful to have ended up on her team.
The experience has also given her something beyond celebrity mentorship.
Despite initially feeling nervous about being the youngest contestant surrounded by older singers she admired, Brianna said she quickly developed friendships with the other artists and began feeling like she had found a new family within the competition.
That support could become especially important now that the Blind Auditions are over and the pressure increases.
The Battle Rounds force contestants from the same team to compete against one another, meaning Kelly will eventually have to make difficult choices involving singers she personally recruited.
For Brianna, however, simply reaching this point has already provided an unexpected opportunity: learning directly from an artist whose career she respected long before stepping onto The Voice stage.
And after spending time with Kelly away from the cameras, Brianna’s description was remarkably simple.
Behind the superstar voice, awards and famous red chair, the youngest singer in Season 30 says her coach is genuinely down-to-earth — and she is teaching Brianna lessons that could stay with her long after the competition ends.
